Dhanbad, Jan. 17: A Digawadi resident, Sanjay Mishra (50), today shaved his head off and got ready to perform the last rites of his 40-plus wife — after she left him for her “lover”.

Sanjay Mishra framed adultery charges on his wife, Sujita Devi, who left her home on January 16.

She, too, has alleged that her husband had a mistress for the past few years.

Though the allegations and counter-allegations are old, today the affairs of the middle-aged couple took a turn when Sanjay shaved off his head, to “sever” all ties with his wife and socially announced her as dead, after she refused to come home — from her “lover’s” house.

Mishra charged his wife, Sujita, of breaching his trust and “holding someone else’s hand”. Their grandchildren and three sons and daughters-in-law were a witness to the incident.

Sujita reportedly went away with one Virendra Mandal of Digwadih, who she had been courting for the past one year. Sanjay, an employee of Tisco and a SDL machine (mining machinery) operator in the Jharia coalfields for a couple of decades now, said his wife had run away on six earlier occasions and this time she had left for good. “She has always been like this. This time, too, I tried to bring her back till yesterday. When she refused, I snapped all ties. I have shaved my head off and will perform her last rites.”

Their son, Rakesh Ranjan Mishra, a driver and video-mixer at Digwadih, confirmed that his mother had left the house without informing anyone and had done the same three months ago. He attributed it to the worsening relationship between his parents.

“They would often fight over petty issues. When she went away this time I thought she was alone. But later we learnt that she was with Virendra Mandal,” he said.

He further said that Mandal’s wife had confirmed that his mother was with her husband.

Virendra Mandal, too, is an employee of Tisco and a resident of Digawadih.